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Brendan Somes

Brendan Somes

Brendan Somes

Collection Strategy Specialist, State Library of NSW

Want to learn about collecting social media for posterity? Brendan Somes, from the State Library of NSW, knows about the why, what and how of collecting social media. Join the conversation at VividSydney’s Beyond the Physical: Reimagining Digital Experiences in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums. There he will join panel members from 3P Learning, the Atlas of Living Australia, the Australian National Maritime Museum, CSIRO Data61, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Australia.

The State Library of New South Wales has been working with CSIRO Data61 to collect social media since 2012. A range of publicly available online material from platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs as well as websites has been collected. It includes 70,000 posts relating to the Sydney Siege at nearby Martin Place and 500,000 posts relating to the NSW State Election.

Brendan Somes is the Collection Strategy Specialist at the State Library of New South Wales. This involves work in the areas of digital collecting, collecting development policy and planning. He has worked with the Library since 2014. Prior to 2014, Brendan worked at the National Archives of Australia.